An Update...

Hi all, I thought I'd leave an update of how things are going.
They are, which is good news, just not how I would hope they would. 
To put things as simply as possible, I am working on getting my rights back to all of my stories (for various reasons), which is why you have not seen anything from David and the gang from Beginning Again and Incubation.

Suffice it to say (unfortunately), until I have my rights back, you won't see the boys because I will not be submitting anything to that publisher again. Hopefully, I will have the rights back soon and we can get back to my boys. The process has been frustrating and emotionally draining - which can make it hard to write sometimes - but I'm trying to put those frustrations aside so I can write.

It also takes a while to write the stories. They aren't exactly short stories and I don't want to screw details up. Editing something that long takes a while, too. I sometimes wish I could write faster but faster isn't always better.


But on that front, the next story is 'finished'. 
Days Gone By - Abby's story (David's dad) which is set 30 years earlier - is with a beta reader. She has a busy life so it'll be a little while before I get that back (and that's fine). After that, I honestly hope to have a couple other people to look at it. I already think I want to add a chapter earlier in the story to help solidify some things. :D (It's already at about 80K. So knowing me, it'll end up closer to 90K once it's done).
But with Days Gone By off to a beta reader this opens me up to work on other stories. Which ones you ask?

I'm flipping between Paths Not Taken (the finishing arc of David's story) and Descent of an Angel. 
Right now I have 54 K of material in David's story, but most of that is being reworked so I'm basically starting with a blank slate there. The end of his story deserves to be done right, so I'm taking my time with it (sorry). 


I hope you guys can be patient and will continue to support David and the guys.

Descent of an Angel is over 80K now. I went through and did edits (I actually cut ~4-6K *gasp* shocking, I know) on what I had from NaNo. It could still use some cleaning but the guys are talking so I'm writing. It's changed a fair bit from when I wrote the six shorts (it was at about ~21K then). It's actually kind of cool (to me) to see the progression of flushing out a story I began writing for flash prompts (and then realize it was a book waiting to be written). I personally like the direction, hopefully you guys will too.

After that I'll be tackling a couple short stories. Keeping Promises and Stuck with You. 
Keeping Promises was originally intended with my previous publisher, but that's no longer happening. I got it back and actually added about 4K to it. It will be flushed out a little more and another 5 - 10K will be added by the time I'm done. I had actually gotten 14K into its sequel before things hit the fan with the publisher. I don't know where I will sub them though. Once again, it's up in the air. It's frustrating but I believe things will work out one way or another.
Stuck with You was a short I wrote for the Silver Prompts. I want to flush that short out into a short story - probably about double its original length - (as of right now, I don't plan on making it into a novella or novel, but you know what they say about plans) and rerelease it as a self pub.
After that I have a long list of WIPs that need my attention. Branded, Always Finishing in Last, Playing the Game Playing for Keeps & Left Undone are at the top of the list.
So I will probably focus on those. I have the most invested in those (in terms of what I've already written).
I'm trying to keep my spirits up and stay the course and write. Certain things that have happened in the last half a year have really battered my spirits though, and I no longer see through rose colored glasses. 
I have learned a lot the past year and a half, and I'm glad that I've learned what I've learned. Some of it's sucked. There is no other way to put it. But they were important lessons. 
I've also made some good friends during that time and cherish those relationships. I'm pretty awkward so I don't feel I always express that well, especially when a lot of the communication is online. It's just not something I can get comfortable with. I'm a lot like Geeves, and I have trouble interacting with people I see in EDL, online just makes it more stressful. I try though.
And while we're at it, I also wasn't sure about my writing. It's met with a lot of silence or WTF responses because it didn't fit in expected niches, and I thought maybe it wasn't that good and made a mistake - but I love writing. Getting the award for Incubation helped boost my confidence, and I will continue to write, hoping to reach readers who will appreciate my stories.
So, I'm sorry I don't have something more significant to share (like news of a release). I am working diligently and hope that I will get to continue to share my stories with you all (and hopefully I will have my stories back and we can all move on).
For those who have given me props, thanks for all of the support thus far.
*Hugs*